The Usurper (King Rolen's Kin Series #3) [NOOK Book]

Overview

Read the final novel in The Chronicles of King Rolen's Kin, the bestselling fantasy series from Rowena Cory Daniells and Solaris Books! Now a slave, Piro finds herself in the royal palace of Merofynia, serving her parents' murderer. She must watch every step, for if her real identity is discovered, she will be executed. Fyn is desperate to help his brother, now the uncrowned king of Rolencia. Byren never sought power, but finds himself at the ...

More About
This Book

Overview

Read the final novel in The Chronicles of King Rolen's Kin, the bestselling fantasy series from Rowena Cory Daniells and Solaris Books!
Now a slave, Piro finds herself in the royal palace of Merofynia, serving her parents' murderer. She must watch every step, for if her real identity is discovered, she will be executed.
Fyn is desperate to help his brother, now the uncrowned king of Rolencia. Byren never sought power, but finds himself at the centre of a growing resistance movement as people flee Palatyne's vicious soldiers. Can he hope to repel the invasion with a following of women, children and old men?

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

Rowena Cory Daniells is the renowned writer behind the The Last T’en trilogy. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and six children. King Rolen’s Kin - The Bastard Son marks the begining of a major new fantasy trilogy.

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked,
or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to
Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original
and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you
and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not
violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help
ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer.
However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or
to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the
information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its
sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the
review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.

- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly
those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com
also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.

Picking up where she left off in The Uncrowned King, Rowena Cory

Picking up where she left off in The Uncrowned King, Rowena CoryDaniells brings her King Rolen's King trilogy to a close (if not analtogether tidy conclusion) with The Usurper. This final instalmentbegins much as we would expect, with King Byren quietly raising arebellion under the nose of his cousin, Lord Cobalt. Although largelyconsisting of young boys, maimed men, and resourceful old women, thefate of his arm slowly begins to turn with the emergence of the lastliving warrior monks. Together, they sneak over hidden passes, led byOrrie and Florin, to recruit the support of the same warlords who sworefealty to his father just months before. Meanwhile, Piro and Fyn findthemselves on the other side of the world, prisoners of tyrants andpirates. It is here that the novel really shines, with the developmentof some intricate political manoeuvring, backstabbing, conspiracies, andsecrets. The friendship between Piro and Isolt is an intriguingdevelopment, bridging the warring factions, of you will, and offering aglimmer of hope for a peaceful future. Fyn, meanwhile, is forced toconfront his fears, to sacrifice his future, and to take a role in theconflict that his status as a monk would have once forbid. As the threebecoming entangled with Tyro, agent of the mysterious Mage, the storytakes an interesting and dramatic turn. Espionage and hidden agendascome to the forefront, with allies turning up in the most unexpectedplaces, and treachery looming in ever shadow. The climactic battle ofRolencia that we had been expecting never comes to pass, with the storycentring instead around a more intimate battle of wills. Palatyne andByren do get their final confrontation, but within the distant halls ofMerofynia. Even then, the outcome is not what we've come to expect, butthere is a sort of poetic justice in how it all works out. Like I saidearlier, it doesn't completely resolve the story line (there's still atraitorous cousin in charge across the sea), robbing us of possibly themost anticipated showdown in the series, but it does offer us hope for asuccessful resolution. Should this turn out to be the end of theseries, I would have to admit to a little disappointment. There are toomany questions left unanswered, too many relationships left in limbo,and too much violence left off the page. The story really does demandone more volume but, should that come to pass, it wouldn't take much totransform that disappointment into satisfaction.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

panc_jefe

Posted February 24, 2012

terrible trilogy

This is simply one of the worst fantasies I have read in 20 years. I bought them as a trilogy while I went on a long trip. It was all I had to read. I never would have bought the second two if I read the first one first. They are all awful. The characters are thin, weak, and pathetic. The plot line is worse. Everyone feels guilty for everything, the jumps from place to place are impossible, and after three volumes, there is NO satisfying ending. What a complete waste.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

AnimeAddict

Posted September 22, 2010

It's okay

This series is not one of the best written that I have ever read however it does keep the action going and the characters are fun. I really wish that this book had ended the series however. There were a lot of twists and turns that were interesting but could have been left out to move the plot along a little faster. There was also a lot of reminiscing about past events that dragged it down and most of it was about things that didn't get resolved in this book anyway. Still, I will probably get the next book too.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

ishkahide

Posted September 18, 2010

Awsome book!

i loved how the story twists and turns throughout all 3 books. but i wonder, is there gonna be a 4th book to tie up all loose ends? would love to find out how he retakes his throne of rolencia.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.